


Words Said in a Moment

by Judaiandjohan, pulveremcomedesligulas, xcyfiawnderx



Series: We fucked up and made a super hero au [10]
Category: Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda) - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: (note: Sheik is Lullaby she just goes by Sheik), (that's not gonna happen anytime soon though), Flora 95 percent of Wild's impulse control, Flora won't let him, Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Wild is not having a good day and really needs a hug, Wild learns all, Wild tries to be a self-sacrificial idiot, he also needs for Majora to leave his family alone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 07:17:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20560379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Judaiandjohan/pseuds/Judaiandjohan, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pulveremcomedesligulas/pseuds/pulveremcomedesligulas, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xcyfiawnderx/pseuds/xcyfiawnderx
Summary: Wild learns of the events that took place after he escaped from the mall.A direct follow to 'A Day Out'





	Words Said in a Moment

**Author's Note:**

> Written by pulveremcomedesligulas

Wild knows something is wrong. It’s obvious something is wrong. It’s been hours since Midna brought him home from the mall, but his brothers had yet to make it home. 

What was more, is that his mom was gone now too. Instead, he’d woken up to find himself leaning against Flora from his spot on the floor with Sheik sitting stiffly in one of the armchairs, her phone clutched tightly in her hand and Artemis sitting on the couch behind Flora, one of her textbooks spread out on her lap, though Wild wasn’t sure if she was actually paying attention to it.

That had been several hours ago, and none of them had _ yet _ to tell him anything. 

Where was his mom? Where were Twilight and Legend? Where was his dad?

About an hour ago, Sheik had gotten a phone call that she had taken outside. When she had come back, her posture had been even stiffer than before and she looked near on the verge of tears.

Wild could think of very few things that would make his aunt cry.

Sheik hadn’t said anything then, had only briefly mentioned seeing what there was to fix for dinner before disappearing in the kitchen. Artemis had hesitated for only a few seconds before following her mother. 

Since then, Wild’s anxiety had only begun to spiral more and more. He clutched tightly to the hoodie he was wearing that day (one of his dad’s old ones, he’d noticed off-handedly). Flora was sitting beside him, wringing her hands together. Wild could tell she knew something, but he didn’t think she knew the whole story.

It wasn’t until after dinner (which was awkward and stilted since Sheik tried attempted to make normal conversation with them which Flora and Artemis attempted to reciprocate but Wild was so tightly wound with anxiety at this point that he couldn’t manage to get any words out.

Cleaning up after dinner didn't help reduce any of the awkwardness, and added to that were the looks that Sheik sent him. He couldn't read the emotion in them (Sheik was good at hiding her emotions) but after about the tenth one he was fed up.

With a deep breath he set the stack of dishes on the counter and turned to her.

"Can you please tell me why you keep looking at me like that?" he asked. 

Sheik frowned. "What do you mean, Wild?" she asked. 

"You keep looking at me. Giving me these looks I don't understand," Wild said. He shrunk back a bit, pulling the ends of his sweatshirt sleeves over his hands. "I don't think it would bother me if I didn't already know you aren't telling me what happened."

Sheik took a breath and looked up to the ceiling for a moment before looking back at him. 

"You're right," she said. "Come on, let's go sit in the living room."

The anxiety in Wild's stomach roared to life again at those words. She was delaying telling him. Not for long, but... if it were truly nothing serious then Sheik would've just told him.

Then again, if it were truly nothing serious his family would be home by now.

They settled in the living room, Sheik sitting in the arm chair she had been earlier while Wild, Flora, and Artemis sat on the couch. Flora managed to pull one of Wild's hands out of his sweater sleeve so that she could hold it. Wild didn't say anything, but he was thankful for the small bit of comfort the contact gave.

It took several more minutes of anxious waiting before Sheik took a breath and looked up to meet Wild's eyes. 

"After Midna brought you here, an explosion was set off in the mall. Several explosions, actually. Most of your friends made it out with the rest of the crowds, but Warriors, Hyrule, and your brothers all decided to take a back exit in an attempt to get Twilight and Legend out sooner."

"But... why..." Wild started.

"They were worried that... _ she _ would try to get to them," Artemis explained. "And with the panicked crowds, the exits were blocked, so they tried the back entrances."

Sheik took another breath before speaking again. "It was a smart plan, except that there were still explosions. One hit close to them, and part of the ceiling fell on Warriors. It broke his leg. He was taken to the hospital and had to have surgery, but his reports are good. He'll be fine in the long run."

"That's not too bad," Wild said, wanting to hope that was all Sheik had to tell him but knowing that it wasn't.

Sheik could obviously tell what he was feeling because she gave him that unidentifiable look again. It seemed like something between sadness and... regret? Wild couldn't tell.

"Warriors... wasn't the only one injured," Sheik continued. "Legend was as well. He... he was stabbed."

A sharp gasp came from Flora, but Wild barely registered it due to the ringing in his ears. 

"Stabbed?" Wild asked, his voice breaking as he tried to speak. His anxiety hadn't lessened any since Sheik had begun talking and he could feel it constricting his vocal cords.

Sheik nodded. "We don't have the full story because... Twilight was the only one who saw and he hasn't been able to talk about it yet. But Midna was the one who found the two of them after she took Hyrule to the hospital with Warriors. She said... she said there was a good chance that _ she _was the one who stabbed him."

Red started flooding into Wild's vision._ How dare she _. How dare she hurt his friends. Hurt his family. Before he realized he what he was doing, Wild was on his feet. 

"Take me to the hospital," he said. 

"Wild." Flora was still holding his hand, gently pulling it to try and convince him to sit down. He spared her a brief glance before turning back to Sheik. 

"He's my brother, I need to be there," Wild said. 

"I know Wild, I know," Sheik said slowly. "But there's something else I need to tell you first."

She gestured for him to sit back down and Wild carefully did, his anger slowly shifting back into anxiety at the tone of Sheik's voice.

_ There was something else wrong. _

"There's something else wrong, isn't there?" he asked carefully. Sheik didn't answer and wouldn't meet his gaze. He found himself getting back to his feet, taking a step towards Sheik. "Is someone else hurt? Hyrule? You said Twi wasn't able to talk about what happened is it him? Did something happen to mom?"

"It's not them, Wild," Sheik said quietly.

"Who then?" Wild asked, feeling his frustration start to build back up only to be completely extinguished at the sight of Sheik's expression. His words faltered and he took a step back. "Sheik? Who..."

"It's Time," Sheik said. "Midna brought him to the others after she brought you here. When they got there, Legend was being held at knife-point by... _ her _. Midna had to leave to take Warriors to the hospital, and by the time she got back..."

"Your father wasn't there anymore."

Wild's powers didn't freeze time. They only slowed it. But in that moment as his powers exploded outward it felt as if time had stopped. 

"She has him," Wild whispered. His voice couldn't manage more than that. "She has him."

Without thinking, Wild took off towards the front door only to be stopped by a tightening grip around his hand. 

Frowning, Wild turned to see Flora standing there, completely unaffected by the slowed time around them. For a second, Wild wondered if his powers were actually activated, but a glance at Sheik stalled in the same defeated position she had been when she had told Wild that his dad was gone - that _ she _ had taken his dad - confirmed that Wild's powers had in fact kicked in.

So why wasn't Flora frozen too? The girl seemed just as confused as he was, looking around in confusion before her gaze landed on their still clasped hands. 

"Oh," she said.

"Let go, Flora," Wild said quietly. 

That seemed to bring Flora back to the present. "What are you planning to do, Wild?" she asked.

Wild hadn't actually planned anything yet. All he knew was that psychotic bitch who had held him captive for months now had his dad and he wasn't going to stand for it. 

He couldn't.

"You're not going after her," Flora said when Wild didn't answer. 

Wild found his voice then.

"She has my _ dad _," he said. "I can't just..."

"You can't fight her Wild. None of us can."

"I don't care," Wild protested, turning towards the door. He tried to pull his hand from Flora's but she held on tightly. "Flora let me go! I have to go save Dad!"

Flora gripped his hand tighter while reaching and grabbing his other wrist. 

"No, Wild," she said, putting force into her words. "That's what she wants. It's why she set off the explosions. Why she caused Warriors leg to get broken. Why she _ stabbed Legend _ . She's _ baiting _ you."

"So what if she is?!" Wild shouted. He felt a scream building in his throat as he fought against Flora's hold. But the other teen wasn't loosening her grip for anything. "I don't care if she's baiting me. I have to get Dad back."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Flora asked. "You can't fight her. Not even Sheik could take her on long without help. How are you going to get Time back?"

She wasn't being hateful. Wild knew that. Flora was very rarely hateful, aside from that one time early on in their partnership when she yelled at him. But that was only because he'd been pestering her to practice and he hadn't known she didn't have powers yet. Flora had apologized soon after, and ever since then had never shown him any level of hatred.

Flora thrived off of facts, which was why she most often won their arguments - she only brought facts to back up whatever stance she took. 

Flora was only telling him facts now. Wild knew that. 

But he didn't want to listen.

"She'll give him back for me," Wild said quietly. "I'm using my power, I'll be able to draw her out. I can make her give Dad back in my place."

Flora didn't respond immediately. Wild didn't dare look up to see what her expression said. He could guess well enough anyway. He pulled at her grip again, trying to see if maybe _ now _ she would let him go, but Flora only tightened it. 

"How dare you," she said. Her voice was low, and had the slowed-down time around them also not frozen all other sound, Wild wouldn't have heard it. 

"How dare I what?" he asked, not bothering to keep mocking tone out of his voice. 

Flora was wasting time. Even if his powers slowed it, even a second was too late when it came to _ her. _

"How dare you speak about yourself that way," Flora answered. 

"I'm only saying what's true!" Wild protested. 

Flora looked up at him, rage boiling in her eyes. 

"You don't get to choose to throw your life away like that," she said. "No one would ever ask that of you."

"I'm not looking for anyone to ask me," Wild said. "I'm making the best choice for everyone."

"What about the best choice for _ yourself _ ?!" Flora cried. Wild's eyes opened in shock as she continued. "For _ once _ Wild. For once care about _ yourself_!"

"I..." Wild started, but Flora shook her head.

"Just... listen, Wild. Please. Ever since we got you back, and maybe even some before that, you've had this way of doing things that..." she paused to take a breath. "I can tell that you don't think you're a priority. You close yourself in, try to seem invisible. You don't ask for help without us insisting because you worry about being a burden but Wild _ you aren't _."

Wild couldn't find words to respond, but he didn't need to as Flora pushed on.

"We know you're hurting, and we want to help. We care about you. And I know that you think this all your fault and it'll take years of us telling you to convince you that it's not, but regardless of that you can't give up on yourself so easily. You... you just can't."

Tears were forming in Flora's eyes at this point, and Wild could feel himself teetering on a breaking point as well.

Flora was right (of course), Wild had just failed to realize that. He knew he'd always been a bit self-sacrificing (he blamed Twilight) but...

Flora was speaking again.

"Wild, I know it's hard for you. And I wish more than anything that I could find a way to make everything better. We all do. But in order to make things better, we need you around. We've already had to suffer for three months without you. Please don't cause us to lose you again.

And like that, the dam broke. Wild felt his knees give out as Flora helped guide him to the floor. He was pulled into her shoulder, broken sobs making their way out of his throat.

"I didn't... I didn't mean to..." he said. 

"No, no Wild you don't need to apologize," Flora said. She pulled back a little to wipe at the tears in her eyes. Wild did the same with his sweatshirt sleeve. 

His dad's sweatshirt. 

As if sensing the downward spiral, Flora quickly grabbed his wrist again, pulling his attention back to her.

"We'll get him back," she said. "We found you when you were in the clutches of that psychopath, and we'll find him too. I promise Wild."

Wild nodded, tears streaming down his face and burning the back of his throat. It felt hopeless, but he believed Flora when she promised they would find his dad.

Wild felt his control (or lack of it) over his powers beginning to slip, and with it he could feel exhaustion seeping in. 

"It's all going to be okay, Wild," Flora said. "It may take some time to get there, but it'll be okay. Just rest now."

Wild clutched at her hand that was still gripped in his. "You'll stay?"

Flora nodded. "I'll be here as long as you need me."

Wild managed a weak smile at that before he slumped into Flora's arms and fell unconscious.

*** * ***

Unnoticed across the room, the hands on the mantle clock began to move again.


End file.
